A look at calls to remove Confederate symbols across South

Asha Jones listens to the speakers during a rally outside the State House in Columbia, South Carolina, Tuesday. Reuters

In the wake of a massacre at a black church in Charleston, South Carolina, a bipartisan mix of officials across Southern states is calling for the removal of Confederate flags and other symbols of the Confederacy.

Here’s a look at what’s happening and what’s being proposed:

A man, who declined to give his name, holds a Confederate flag during a rally outside the South Carolina Statehouse on Tuesday. Lawmakers planned to introduce a resolution to begin a debate on removing the Confederate flag from the Statehouse grounds. Reuters

Lawmakers took the initial steps Tuesday toward removing the Confederate battle flag from the Statehouse grounds, a day after Republican Gov. Nikki Haley reversed course and called for the divisive symbol to come down. The flag has flown in front of the state Capitol for 15 years after being moved from atop the Statehouse dome. The momentum in South Carolina sparked further calls from politicians across the state and country for flags and Confederate symbols to be removed from public displays in other states.

Alabama

Rep. Alvin Holmes of Montgomery said Tuesday that the state should remove Confederate flags from the Alabama Capitol grounds. Holmes says he will file a legislative resolution to remove the flags, which surround an 88-foot tall Alabama Confederate Monument that was erected in 1898. Holmes led a successful fight in the 1990s to remove the Confederate flag from flying atop the Alabama Capitol dome. But the other flags remain on the grounds.

Kentucky

The Republican nominee for governor, Matt Bevin, says the state should remove a statue of Confederate president Jefferson Davis from the Capitol rotunda, where it stands a few paces from the statue of another native Kentuckian, Abraham Lincoln. Democratic nominee Jack Conway, the state’s attorney general, said he agreed with Haley’s call to remove the battle flag but said he would have to think about whether to remove the Davis statue.

Mississippi

Leaders of the Republican-controlled state are divided on whether to alter the Mississippi flag, a corner of which is made up of the Confederate battle flag. House Speaker Philip Gunn said Monday the emblem is offensive and needs to be removed. Mississippi voters voted 2-to-1 in 2001 to keep the flag, and Gov. Phil Bryant has said he supports those election results. Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves said Tuesday he thinks voters should decide on any changes.

Virginia

Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe is moving to have the Confederate flag banished from state license plates. He said Tuesday that he’s asked the state attorney general to take steps to reverse a 2002 federal court decision that said Virginia could not block the Sons of Confederate Veterans from displaying its logo — which includes the Confederate flag — on state license plates.

Texas

Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that Texas was within its rights to refuse to issue personalized license plates showing the Confederate flag. The court, in a 5-4 decision, rejected a challenge on the grounds of freedom of speech. The Sons of Confederate Veterans had sought a Texas plate bearing its logo with the battle flag. Similar plates are issued by eight other states that were members of the Confederacy and by the state of Maryland. In Virginia, McAuliffe cited this ruling in his call for banning the flag from plates in his state.

Tennessee

Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers called for a bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general and an early leader in the Ku Klux Klan, to be removed from an alcove outside the Senate chambers at the Statehouse. The bust, inscribed with the words “Confederate States Army,” has been at the Capitol for decades.

Also, at a Tuesday news conference, Gov. Bill Haslam was asked about the state’s Sons of Confederate Veterans specialty license plate, with an image of the Confederate flag in the group’s logo. Haslam said he was unaware of the plate but would be in favor of discontinuing it.

Maryland

Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz says he wants to change the name of Robert E. Lee Park. Kamenetz says he directed county officials to start looking at changing it from the name of the Confederate general last month, and he issued a statement reiterating that point Monday, shortly after Haley’s announcement in South Carolina. A spokesman for Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said she supports changing the name and is willing to work with the county to find an appropriate new one.

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